Teens Snapchat vandalism of local high school, get arrested

MARIETTA, Ga. (WXIA) -- Two teens are in jail after vandalizing a Cobb County high school while broadcasting the whole crime online over the weekend.

Author:
Ron Jones, Christopher Buchanan

Published:
2:51 PM EDT August 1, 2017

MARIETTA, Ga. (WXIA) -- Two teens are in jail after vandalizing a Cobb County high school while broadcasting the whole crime online over the weekend.

The suspects proudly displayed their alleged crime spree to followers on Snapchat. Looking for 30 seconds of social media fame, they ended up getting a whole lot more.

Officers said that one a weekend afternoon, Gary Higginbotham and Christopher Gonzales burglarized and vandalized Lassiter High in Marietta, Ga.

They also targeted several restaurants the same day. Sharing their actions live on social media, they proudly showed their faces. Officers said the teens smashed holes in the gym ceiling using a basketball and even tossed furniture around.

Walking over to the school cafeteria, they also grabbed food from an industrial freezer. And after parading on the roof of the school, officers said they drove to nearby restaurants spraying cars and customers with a fire extinguisher.

"We just see smoke," Chef Omar Vera from Marlow's Tavern said.

Vera said the teens were particularly overbearing at the restaurant.

"Maybe they got their 30 seconds of fame and they sure got it," he said.

It turns out those 30 seconds are also giving them days in the slammer. And that's in no small part due to the fact that they actually recorded themselves jumping on the hood of a Cobb County police car.

Investigators don't think it's a laughing matter though. The teens are now facing several charges including burglary, vandalism and making terroristic threats. Both Higginbotham and Gonzales were jailed on $40,000 bail.